A DNA-Fullerene Conjugate as a Template for Supramolecular Chromophore Assemblies: Towards DNA-Based Solar Cells

A fullerene was covalently attached to a (dA)20 template that serves as structural scaffold to self-assemble an ordered and mixed array of ethynyl-pyrene- and ethynyl-Nile-red-nucleoside conjugates. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed evidence for energy transfer between the two different chromophores. Moreover, fluorescence quenching is significantly enhanced by the attached fullerene in mixed assemblies of different chromophore ratios. This indicates exciton dissociation by electron transfer from the photo-generated exciton on the chromophore stack to the fullerene. The fullerene-DNA-conjugate was integrated as a photo-active layer in solar cells that showed charge-carrier generation in the spectral regime of all three components of the conjugate. This work clearly demonstrates that DNA is suitable as structural element for chromophore assemblies in future organic optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells.